OpenSSL updated to kill code-execution bug

Remotely exploitable

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The OpenSSL server has been updated to fix a security bug that could be remotely exploited to potentially install malware on vulnerable systems.

The race condition flaw in the OpenSSL TLS server extension code could be exploited in a buffer overrun attack, maintainers of the open-source SSL and TLS application warned on Tuesday. All versions of OpenSSL that support TLS extensions are vulnerable, including OpenSSL 0.9.8f through 0.9.8o, 1.0.0, and 1.0.0a. Apache HTTP server and Stunnel are not affected.

“Any OpenSSL based TLS server is vulnerable if it is multi-threaded and uses OpenSSL's internal caching mechanism,” members of the OpenSSL Project wrote. “Servers that are multi-process and/or disable internal session caching are NOT affected.”

Members of the Red Hat Security Response Team, which uses OpenSSL in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, warned the vulnerability could be remotely exploited.

“Under certain specific conditions, it may be possible for a remote attacker to trigger this race condition and cause such an application to crash, or possibly execute arbitrary code with the permissions of the application,” they wrote. ®